Lost In Stereo

“Hey guys, I’m going to ride with Colter and Penny. I’ll see you back at our place!” Zooey called as she followed her brother and Penny towards their car. “Can I drive?”

Colter glanced behind him to look at her. “Seriously?”

“Yes, I know the way back to my place better than you and I haven’t driven in a month. I need to do something. All I’ve been doing is sitting on a bus with annoying boys and I need to experience driving again.” Colter sighed as he handed her his keys and she smiled happily as she unlocked his car and got in the driver’s seat.

Penny got in the passenger’s seat next to her while Colter started grumbling in the back. She just laughed as she pulled out of the now empty parking lot and saw their bus pulling out into the road also. There was a weird silence in the car as she continued down the road. The radio was on low in the background set to some local Baltimore station that Zo listened to every now and then and she could feel the tension building up.

Finally she gave in and broke the silence. “For the love of God, say something. I know both of you have a billion questions. Just ask them for God’s sake!”

“How do you even know them? I mean you seem closer to Alex than the rest of them. How the hell do you know him? Did you randomly move to Baltimore and meet him and then ask him to move in with him?” Penny asked.

“Um no, Alex has family in Minnesota and he sent a letter to them and somehow it ended up at my house. I sent it back explaining he got it wrong and then somehow we continued to talk. He didn’t tell me who he was really and then when we went to the concert a few months ago he recognized me from a photo I sent him and it went on from there.” She explained using the story Alex had told the other boys. Only she changed it also since Colter and Penny both knew they didn’t have family in Maryland.

“So then how did you end up moving in with him and getting the job?” Colter asked from the backseat and she explained telling the truth that time.

They both were silent after she explained and she was just pulling up to a red light with their tour bus in front of them when someone started hanging out of the bus window. She rolled her eyes when she found it was Vinny and really didn’t see it as a big shock since he had done it a few times before too. Only when she noticed what he was holding did she start to freak out.

“I’m going to kill him.” She muttered as she grabbed her phone and dialed the number she knew by heart. Alex was cracking up in her head and she just rolled her eyes as she put the phone to her ear. *You know, you could help out. You are on the bus and seeing him do this.*

*I honestly had no clue he had it until you said something.* Alex replied as the phone continued to ring but no one picked up. But it wasn’t a surprise since she could hear the vibrations of the music coming from the bus. It was a normal after show dance party going on on the bus and knowing from experience you couldn’t hear yourself even think when everything got heated up.

“Is that your stuffed Pooh Bear?” Colter asked as Zo growled and hung up the phone when it went to voice mail.

“Yes, Vinny’s seriously going to die when we get back.” She grumbled as she continued down the road. Alex had forced Vinny back in the bus so he didn’t drop her favorite stuffed animal but didn’t put it down. From Alex’s mind’s eye she could see Vinny square dancing with it and giggling like a little school girl.

Penny was mildly humored by the whole thing and was trying to keep a straight face since Zo had already glared at her once because of it. “You seriously brought it on tour with you?” Her best friend asked as Zo rolled her eyes and nodded.

“You know I can’t sleep without it, especially after everything with Do.” She replied quietly.

“Are you having nightmares?” Her brother asked as she shrugged.

“Not as often as before,”

She took a deep breath as she continued driving. The mood was killed when Colter ended up bringing Do into the conversation so the car stayed in a weird silence as they got closer to Zo’s apartment. Somehow they got ahead of the bus and ended up at the apartments first and Zo managed to find a spot in the visitors section of the parking lot since it was a weekend and their place usually got packed for the weekends.

“You mind as well bring your bags in.” Zo said as she got out of the car. When she saw the looks her brother and friend gave her she sighed and grabbed her keys out of her pocket. “Knowing how these parties tend to get, neither of you are going to be in any condition to drive tonight. Trust me, you’ll say you won’t drink much but these boys are convincing and you’ll be smashed before you know it.”

They grabbed their bags without another word and followed her through the doors up to their second story apartment. She unlocked the door and smiled as she saw the familiar yet new look of home and dropped her keys in the bowl by the door and let the others in.

“Ok, so you both can share my room and don’t even bother trying to tell me you two don’t share a bed. I know you two are a couple.” Zo said with a smirk as her suspicions were confirmed by Penny’s reaction.

“We don’t want to steal your room, we can just stay here.” Penny replied as Zo laughed and shook her head.

“Trust me; you’re not going to want to. My room has a lock on the door and like I said before, these parties get a little crazy. Jack usually passes out on the couch and everyone’s going to get super trashed tonight and end up sleeping where they pass out. Besides, I’ll just stay with Alex tonight and let you guys take my room. It’s totally fine.”

Penny just shrugged and agreed and Zo lead them through the apartment telling them where everything was. Then she showed them where her room was and they put their stuff down just as Zo heard the front door open followed by shouting and laughing.

“Here we go; I hope you guys are ready for this.” Zo said with a small laugh as she walked out of her room and toward the front room. She smiled when she saw all the boys there and went over to Alex and tucked herself into his side when he wrapped an arm around her waist.

She noticed the silly smile he had on his face as he turned to her and pulled something out of his pocket. “I saved something for you.” He said as he handed her her bear.

“Oh God, thank you!” She said as she pulled him into a hug and ignored all the aws that were coming from the rest of the guys.

“Oh by the way,” she continued as she let him go of the hug, “I put Penny and Colter in my room so they could be saved from the boys when things get too crazy so I hope you don’t mind me sharing with you. I’ll sleep on the floor if you want me to.”

“That’s totally fine, and you’re not sleeping on the floor. We’re both mature adults and can handle sharing a bed. It’s not like we haven’t done it before.” He replied as she blushed.

“Let’s get this party started!” Vinny yelled as everyone cheered and the music started up. Someone had plugged in their iPod to the stereo system and Paramore was blasting through the speakers. Well, so much for the neighbors getting a good night’s sleep.

People were already dancing as the drinks were passed around and Zo saw that Colter and Penny seemed to fit in just fine with the crazy group of boys she now called coworkers. They were like one big happy strange family and Zo honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. She only knew most of them for a month at the most but she already considered them family and trusted them with her life. Yes it was a little scary to say she trusted them with her life but she knew that if anything serious happened, they would always be there for her.

“To our new assistant tour manager!” Colussy yelled as he put his cup in the air and everyone did the same with a loud cheer. “Zo, I honestly couldn’t think of anyone better to take my place. I know you’ll do a great job at keeping all these idiots in their places. And I know I won’t have to worry about Flyzik, you’re a great worker and I have no doubts that everything is going to go great!”

She blushed as everyone yelled ‘to Zo’ and then took a long sip of her beer. Colussy came over and kissed her on the cheek lightly before directing Vinny away from the stereo. The merch guy always tended to put crap music on when he got drunk and everyone made a point of keeping him away from the music. She went to the kitchen to get another drink when Flyzik walked in with a huge smile on his face.

“Sorry about earlier, I told the boys they could do whatever they wanted when we told you the news. I just didn’t realize it would be that insane.” He said as she mixed her drink and shrugged.

“It’s not a big deal; I should be used to it by now. I mean I’ve known Alex for years now something over the top was bound to happen.” She replied before taking a sip of her drink. “And thank you for the job, I really appreciate it.”

He just waved her off, “Nah, it’s not a big deal. You deserve it. You did amazingly well on this tour. You got the hang of everything really quickly and did a really good job at it. But I must warn you, enjoy tonight now because this week before we leave for the UK is going to be hectic to say the least. We have a lot to take care of.”

“Mm, so then I take it I should start drinking something a little stronger?” She asked as he laughed and nodded as he grabbed the bottle of vodka they had.

He poured two shots of it and handed her one and they tossed them back at the same time. She made a face as she swallowed and put the glass down and gave him a quick hug and another thank you before they went back out to join the others. When Alex saw her coming back in, he gave her a huge smile as she made her way over to him and started dancing.

Reckless by You Me At Six was playing when it suddenly cut off and one of All Time Low’s old songs came on. There was a collective ‘no’ yelled as Zo turned to see Vinny holding the iPod and Danny snatched the device from his hand before smacking the merch guy on the back of the head and telling him to go away. Vinny started pouting and went to sulk while Danny quickly put one of We Are The In Crowds new songs on.

Everyone cheered again at the choice of songs and continued dancing and messing around. By then, Zo was on her third beer and along with the shot of vodka she had had a while before she could already feel the effects. She hadn’t really drank that much until she had joined the band on tour and so she was still somewhat of a light weight.

But at that point, she really didn’t care. She was having the time of her life. She had all her friends and family with her along with an amazing job and a great guy she was hoping that one day she could call her boyfriend. Everything was just as she wanted it. Perfect.